


Forget Me Not

by MsThunderFrost



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Billy Hargrove is Not Okay, Blood, Child Abuse, Episode: s02e09 The Gate, Fix-It of Sorts, Good Sibling Maxine "Max" Mayfield, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Protective Steve Harrington
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsThunderFrost/pseuds/MsThunderFrost
Summary: Max stood outside of her brother’s room, her hand trembling as she reached for the doorknob.He’d driven home, after… well, everything… and she was… worried? Maybe. Just a little. ‘Cause she knew that she’d dosed him with a pretty strong sedative, and she’d been half-expecting to find the smoldering remains of the Camaro, wrapped around a tree, on her way home. ‘Cause Billy was a fucking reckless driver on the best of days, but strung out on sedatives? She really didn’t want to come home and find him dead ‘cause she’d been pissed and scared and hadn’t been thinking straight and－Otherwise known as a S2E9 fix-it where we don't conveniently forget that we left a bleeding, heavily sedated Billy on the floor of the Byer's house while everyone else ran off to fight the Mind Flayer -__-
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 4
Kudos: 206





	Forget Me Not

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic can be taken in one of two ways. While I know that Max took Billy's keys before they ran off, the first interpretation could be that she didn't, and they had some other mode of transportation to reach the tunnels. The other could be that she gave him back his keys after everything was said and done, hoping he was cognizant enough to drive, and comes home to _this_. Either way works, one just messes with the actual canon lore a bit more than the other. 
> 
> Was anyone else bothered by the fact that they made a whole big deal about the fact that the demodogs can smell blood from however far away and they just left a bleeding, almost unconscious teenager in a house by himself?

Max stood outside of her brother’s room, her hand trembling as she reached for the doorknob. 

He’d driven home, after… well,  _ everything _ … and she was…  _ worried _ ? Maybe. Just a little. ‘Cause she knew that she’d dosed him with a pretty strong sedative, and she’d been half-expecting to find the smoldering remains of the Camaro, wrapped around a tree, on her way home. ‘Cause Billy was a fucking  _ reckless _ driver on the best of days, but strung out on sedatives? She really didn’t want to come home and find him  _ dead _ ‘cause she’d been  _ pissed _ and  _ scared _ and hadn’t been thinking straight and－

****

_ An indescribable sense of relief washed over her as she comes up on their driveway and sees Billy’s absolutely horrid parking job. The Camaro was half on their driveway, half on their lawn, but decidedly in one piece. Which, presumably, meant that Billy was the same－safe and whole and sleeping off the sedative in his bed.  _

_ She unlocked the front door with the spare key tucked away beneath the mat, her heart sinking as she flung open the door to hear the faint buzz of the evening news. Neil was still awake. It was late, even for him, which meant that he’d been waiting up for her. She shut the door as quietly as possible, navigating her way through the darkness with practiced skill－she wasn’t under any sort of misconception about her ability to sneak past him, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to make their encounter as… brief as possible.  _

_ “You’re back,” Neil said, eyes flickering over to the clock on the wall. “Get to bed now, and I’ll neglect to mention to your mother that you came back at a quarter to one in the morning.”  _

_ Max’s fingers twitched around her skateboard, “Where’s Billy?” _

_ “In bed, where else?” Something about his tone made Max’s stomach twist into a tight little knot, “He had a… rough night. It’s best if you leave him be for a little while.”  _

_ “...Right.” She took a step toward the hall, only for something to crunch－loudly－beneath the sole of her sneaker. “What the－,” one of their end tables lay in shambles, the bits and pieces of a broken lamp scattered across their carpet.  _

_ Neil turned to her then, “Oh, forgot to mention－make sure you watch your step. You know how Billy gets when he’s upset…” he shook his head, taking a swig of his beer.  _

_ “He… breaks things.” _

_ Except, the thing was, she’d seen Neil break things, too. Had seen him hit Billy－only the once, and her mom insisted that that’s not what happened, that it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but Max knew the truth. Billy was violent, sure, but Neil was an entirely different sort of beast. And the way he was talking to her right now terrified her. Because maybe she didn’t need to worry about Billy wrapping his car around a tree. Maybe she really needed to worry about the damage Neil could do when Billy couldn’t defend himself. _

_ But she also knew that coming at Neil with accusations wouldn’t help anything. He’d never raised a hand to her before, but she didn’t think he was above it. So she’d have to be smart. Neil seemed perfectly content to let her behavior slide, and so she forced a smile and told him goodnight. She’d gone to her room, careful to avoid the bits of broken furniture scattered about, gotten changed for bed, and waited. It didn’t take long for Neil to go to bed, but she waited a few more minutes before making for Billy’s bedroom, just to be sure. _

****

Billy’s door wasn’t locked. Max turned the knob, trying to ignore the sound of blood rushing in her ears as she opened the door a crack. “Billy?” She hissed, her blue eyes slow to adjust to the total darkness.

“Hng…” Her brow furrowed as she pushed the door open a little bit farther to find－

“ _ Shit _ ! Billy－,” Billy lay in the middle of the floor, his breath shallow and fast as he clutched desperately at his side. His dark blue eyes were hazy, unfocused, as cherry-red blood dripped from his plump, parted lips. 

“T-The  _ fuck’re _ you doin’ here, Maxine?” He wheezed, looking at her like he was half-certain she’d come at him with the bat and finish what she’d started over at the Byers’. “You got whatchu wanted, right? Big, bad Billy leavin’ you and your little friends alone.” 

Max shook her head, “N-No, I－I didn’t want  _ this _ .”

There was a long pause. Billy’s eyes fluttered shut, “...I know you didn’t.”

“You need a  _ hospital _ , Billy. I－I think you might have a broken rib. It coulda punctured your lung.” Billy’s eyes snapped open at the mention of the hospital. That had to be the dumbest idea she’d had all night, right next to pumping him full of enough sedatives to take down a  _ horse _ .  _ If Neil heard the sirens _ …

“No.”

“ _ Billy _ －,”

“I said  _ no _ !” He snapped, before doubling over and hacking up a mouthful of blood onto the carpet. Jesus, that－that may be just a little bit  _ not good _ . “J-Just go to bed, before Neil finds out you’re in here and we have a  _ real _ problem on our hands.”

“Billy…”

He collapsed, then, his pretty face contorted in pain with each shuddering inhale. Max reached for him tentatively, running her small, pale thumb over his battered knuckles. He was in desperate need of medical attention, but… unfortunately, he was right. She couldn’t just call 911. They were  _ both _ supposed to be ‘sleeping’－if Neil woke to the sound of sirens, he would know, immediately, that something was amiss. Max might be spared his wrath, but Billy… Neil would make a couple’a broken ribs look like child’s play. 

It was late. There were few people that she could call at this hour, even fewer she could trust to not ask questions about how Billy ended up curled on his bedroom floor, spitting up blood onto his carpet. And Billy’d likely skin her alive, once he was cognizant enough to realize what she’d done. It was bad enough for  _ her  _ to see him in such an awful state, to air the dirty laundry in front of anyone else… well…

But she couldn’t just let him die, in the middle of his bedroom floor, alone and afraid and in excruciating pain, either. Billy was an asshole, sure, but even he deserved better. Besides, she couldn’t quite shake the little voice in the back of her head that was keen on reminding her that this was at least  _ partially _ her fault. Neil might not need a reason to beat the shit out of his son, but Billy coming home, strung out on sedatives, certainly hadn’t helped anything. Her stomach twisted at the thought of him being unable to even  _ attempt _ to defend himself properly.

“Stay right there－,” she said, before cringing. It’s not like he was about to go  _ anywhere _ anytime soon. “I’ll be right back, okay?” Billy grunted, his every breath a wheezing inhale that made  _ her _ chest ache. “You’re gonna be alright.”

“M-Max!” His entire body tensed, relaxed, and then…  _ fuck _ !

***

“J-Just slow down a second, alright? You’re tellin’ me that you need someone to take your asshole of a brother to the hospital because he has a… a broken rib? I know I roughed him up a little, but I didn’t break any of his ribs－,”

“Steve－,”

“If anything, I’d worry about a serious case of testicular retraction after you swung that bat at his balls.” Max flinched, because… yes, yes okay, he had a valid point. But instead of taking her to task for getting Billy out of their hair, he should be worrying about making sure her brother didn’t drown in a pool of his own blood. 

“I-I can’t tell you what happened.” She hissed between clenched teeth, “You just have to  _ trust _ me when I say it’s bad. We don’t really have time to stand here and talk about it－,”

Steve frowned, “I swear to God, if this is some sort of prank－,”

“Steve!”

She grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket and began to drag him off in the direction of Billy’s room. He was still bitching underneath his breath, but thankfully, she didn’t think he was being loud enough to wake up Neil. He didn’t seem to believe that Billy was seriously hurt, and Max couldn’t tell him what’d happened－partly because she didn’t actually know for sure, and partly because Billy would actually kill her if she let anyone in on their dark family secret. 

His ranting came to an abrupt stop, however, when Max threw open the door to Billy’s room and  _ showed _ him her brother’s unmoving form laying there, sprawled out over the ground. He stuttered out something incomprehensible, before dropping to his knees and pressing his head to Billy’s chest. Max waited with baited breath as he listened… When his shoulders sagged with relief, she knew that he’d found a pulse and that her brother was still breathing. But then something… kinda  _ weird _ started happening. Steve picked Billy up with a surprising amount of care, and though he stumbled a bit under the other teen’s solid weight, he soon had him tucked tight to his chest, his face buried in the crook of his neck.

Billy’s hazy dark blue eyes fluttered open as soon as his tired brain registered that he was no longer on the ground. Max expected him to launch into a full-blown tantrum at the realization that she’d called Steve, but… he just kinda let his eyes flutter closed again, hiding his face in the crook of Steve’s neck as he struggled to breath around the blood that was quite clearly flooding his lung. Max couldn’t help but notice the way that Steve was holding him… his touch was gentle, yet firm, so careful to avoid the cacophony of bruises and cuts that littered Billy’s tanned skin. For two people who’d been hell-bent on tearing each other apart just a short while ago, they seemed oddly content in one another’s presence. In fact－

“Hey, Pretty Boy,” he rasped. “Fancy seein’ you here.” 

Steve snorted, then frowned. “Don’t make me laugh. I’m still mad at you, jackass.” And then, soft enough that Max was almost certain she wasn’t meant to hear, “I didn’t… This, uh… This wasn’t me, right?”

“You  _ wish _ that you’d actually landed enough blows to break a rib, Pretty Boy.” He laughed, until he started wheezing, blood frothing over his lips. “F-Fuck… it actually… really fuckin’ hurts… now that t-those sedatives have worn off…” 

“Yeah, well… look at my face, and tell me how ya think I feel. You really fucked me up good, Hargrove.”

There was a moment of silence as they started to make their way to the Camaro. Then, “...sorry.”

“What was that? I don’t think that I heard you－,”

“I got two words for you－Fuck. You.” He coughed, spraying blood all over Steve. Which was… well, quite frankly,  _ disgusting _ . “I ain’t repeatin’ myself.” And then, even softer, “I ain’t happy about what the little shitstain did. But I am… kinda… glad that she stopped m-me from killin’ you.” He cleared his throat, “A little bit.”

“I think that that may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Steve said, before he… kissed the crown of Billy’s head? What the hell was going on? “Now, shut the fuck up. You need to conserve your energy－I don’t want you dying in the backseat of the Camaro－,”

“B-Backseat? Fuck that－it’s my car,  _ I’m  _ driving.” 

Max stood in front of the front door, listening to their back and forth and thinking, for the first time, that maybe she doesn’t really know her step-brother at all… Who knew that Billy could smile like that?


End file.
